Improvement in machinery for buffing the bottoms of boot and shoe soles



C. C. GREENE. MACHINERY FOR BUFFING THE BOTTOMS 0F BOOT AND SHOE SOLES.

No.176,298.- Patented Apri118, 1876.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrion.

CHARLES C. GREENE, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR BUFFING THE BOTTOMS 0F BOOT AND SHOE SOLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.

176.298, dated April 18, 1876; application filed March 28, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. GREENE, of the city and county ofWorcester and 00mmonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Machines for Buffing Shoe and Boot Bottoms,and for other purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and inwhich- Figure 1 represents a top or plan view of my said improvedbuffing-machine. Fig. 2 represents, upon an enlarged scale, a verticalsection on line A B,.Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents, upon an enlarged scale,a vertical section on line C D, Fig. l; and Fig. 4 also represents, %ponan enlarged scale, asection on line E F,

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to makeand use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in detail.

In the drawings, A represents the base of the machine, from which risestandards B B, in the upper ends of which a horizontal'shaft,

'0, is supported, and turns in suitable bearings.

Upon this shaft are arranged buffing-wheels D and E, which are held inplace upon, and secured so as to turn with, shaft 0 as follows: Fromeach end of the buffing-wheels D and E project square wed ge-shapedprojections F, as indicated in full and dotted lines in the drawings.Over the projections F, on each end of the buffing-wheels, aholding-cap, G, is fitted, so as to cover the projections F, said capsbeing recessed or formed with cavities, to fit over the projections F onthe wheels, and are held in place by the set-screws a, two of which areshown in Fig. 1. For convenience and economy in construction, when twowheels are to be arranged close together, as

shown in Fig. 1, the center portion H may unite two caps, G G, in whichcase a single set-screw will suffice for holding both caps in place.Upon the wheels D E are placed coatings of felt or other suitablematerial, when desired to have such a coating, I, and .upon such coatingI sand-paper or other suitable material is arranged, and securely fixedin position as follows: One edge of the sand-paper J is run down into aslot, b, in the wheel, and into a slot, c, in holding-spindle K, theslot 0 of which then stands in line with the slot b in the wheel. Thesandpaper is then passed around the wheel, and the other end passed downthrough slot b into slot 0, after which spindle K is turned by means ofa wrench applied to the square head (1 of the spindle K, so as to drawthe sand-paper covering close down upon the flexible packing I, arrangedbetween the sand-paper and the peripheries of the wheels D and E, asfully indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. Spindle K in wheel Dis arranged in a hole bored from end to end in one side of said pulleyor wheel, .and is retained in place and prevented from having any 431which hold or fasten pulley D to shaft 0, one edge of pulley ,I) beingcut out, as shown at e, to allow the attendant to apply the wrench tothe head dof the spindle when the sandpaper is to be tightened orremoved, as occasion may require. By reference to Figs. 2 and 3 it willbe perceived that when spindles K are turned into the position indicatedin said figures, the ends f of the sand-paper covering will be drawndown, and compacted and bound between spindles K and the pulleys orwheels D E from end to end, and this clamping of the sand-paper is sosecure that no additional fastening is required to keep the spindles Kfrom turning back while the machine is in operation; but, if desired, aset-screw could be inserted very conveniently and readily for holdingthe spindles K in position when once adjusted. Spindle K in wheel orpulley E, which is a narrow one, is retained from moving longitudinall yby means of aplate screwed tp theside of the pulley th g edge of theplate being cut out, so asm fit into a groove in the projecting end ofthe spindle, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig.3. Spindles-K may besecured in position in a different manner, although I have found thearrangement shown in the drawings to be a good one in practice. Thepulleys or wheels may also be secured to shaft 0 in a different mannerfrom that above described; but I prefer the plan shown in the drawings,since I have found it to Work satisfactorily in practical use.

By securing the wheels or pulleys D and E longitudinal movement ormotion by the caps in position upon the revolving shaft (J by means ofthe caps G, as above described, the fastenings are not liable to becomedetached while the machine is in operation but the pulleys can bequickly removed from the shaft, when desired, by simplylooseningset-screws a, when caps and pulleys can all be slipped 01? ofthe shaft 0 as soon as it is removed from its hearings in the standardsB.

It will be'understood that any number of wheels or pulleys D and E maybe arranged uponrone shaft,and maybe covered with coarse or finesand-paper, as desired, and in any order preferred.

In applying the wheels upon shaft 0, they should he so arranged that thespindles K will tend to balance each other, or else the pulleysweighted, so as to be balanced upon the shaft. These pulleys or wheelsare run at a very high speed, power being applied to a pulley upon shaft0 for such purpose; and the speed at which said pulleys or wheels arerun ordinarily in buffing the bottoms of boots and shoes is about threethousand revolutions per minute, and as such machines were generallyconstructed previous to my invention, a liability or danger existed ofthe attendant being injured during the operation of the machine by someparts becoming loosened, so as to be thrown with great violence andforce from the machine.

Having described my improvements in machines for bntiing the bottoms ofboots and shoes, and for other purposes, what I claim therein as new andof my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the slotted buffing wheel or pulley D or E, ofa slotted tightening and holding spindle, K, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with shaft 0 and wheel or pulley D, provided withsquare wedgeshaped projections F, of holding-caps G, substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with pulley or wheel I) and tightening and holdingspindle K, ofwedge shaped projections F and holding-caps G H,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, with buffing wheels or pulleys D E and shaft 0, ofthe double holding cap-piece G H G, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

, CHARLES C. GREENE. V

Witnesses:

Tnos. II. DODGE, ALBERT A. BARKER.

